Chapter 9. Phantom in Sturam 2000, 13 August
It had been a tense time while the Phantom cruised through the night over and through the enemy space stations viz scanning arc. The first couple of minutes had been the worst. But now they had crested Cheklin and were safe from detection by the space station.
Aubrey Bellard relaxed back in her commander’s chair. If she had dared lower the shutters she would have observed the transition between night and day. But doing so was definitely prejudicial to their cloaked state.
“Enemy cap and two frigates in geo over the equator” called out Phil. “They won’t have seen us” he added for the comfort of the observers, which included the Commodore.
“Five minutes to shuttle launch” called out Alice.
Tola double checked that the shuttle was ready and gave Aubrey the thumbs up. Tola focussed on the holo display and could see the Phantom’s icon over the northern hemisphere. When it reached the waypoint it turned green and Tola commanded the shuttle to launch. “Their away” she advised.
Aubrey nodded her appreciation to Tola then turned to the Commodore. He raised both eyebrows, acknowledging that their role was now one of waiting. Aubrey turned back to Tola and ordered “Loiter station.”
“Pilot, waypoint 2 and loiter” commanded Tola.
As the Phantom cruised up and away her Whiskey 7 Warthog shuttle was gliding down to the planet’s surface. It was aiming for the northern edge of the great land mass. It would layup in the northern tundra till nightfall before heading south into the temperate zone to the city of Lewista.
Chapter 10. Resolute in Qwantum 2230, 13 August
Chase turned over as he heard the door open to his cabin. The lights in his cabin were out and those in the main corridor were dimmed but he could tell by the silhouette that it was Kat. She put her pass keys down on the desk and the motion sensor triggered the courtesy light just above the floor. It was enough for her to make out Chase’s form.
“Chase?” she said in a soft voice.
“Yeah” he responded without enthusiasm
She could tell he was still down. “You were supposed to come to my cabin, remember?”
“Oh sorry.”
Kat lost her robe and jumped under the cover. She cuddled into Chase’s back as he lay on his side. Normally the sensation of her bare breasts on his back was enough to arouse him, but not this time.
“I’m really tired” he muttered.
“Depressed more like it” she said. “Cabin, lights dimmed” she commanded. The cabin lights came on. Kat was pleased that the cabin AI was now responding to her commands. She raised herself up onto her elbow.
Chase didn’t move. “Do we have to?” he mumbled.
With her uppermost arm she pulled on his upper shoulder and forced him to roll toward her. “Chase Hanlon you get one little reprimand and you sulk all day” she chastised. “The Captain even apologised. What is your grief?”
Chase looked through his tussled hair and shrugged his shoulder. It was clear from her expression that she expected him to respond. “I just feel so bad about the cockup and then the boss apologising made it even worse.”
“What?”
“I should have been the first to apologise…another failure on my part.”
“Oh for god sake Chase, grow up. Listen to yourself. You’re behaving like a little spoilt brat. All this ‘poor me’ is a bit much. You’re supposed to be a Lieutenant Commander, remember.”
“See, I’m even failing you now.”
“Oh!” said Kat with a cross look on her face. She threw off the covers and began putting on her robe. She did the tie up and then looked at Chase. “I get corrected all the time as a pilot. I don’t have the luxury of sulking. Mistakes kill people and they need to be corrected. I accept that. You suck it up and learn from it and make sure you don’t make it again. That’s what mature people do.”
She turned and exited leaving Chase to stew and stew he did. He turned off the lights and tried to go to sleep. But after half an hour of his mind flailing over one thing after another he sat bolt upright on the edge of the bed. “You’re a fucking idiot” he said out loud to himself.
He threw on his shorts and a tee shirt and grabbed both pass keys. This time it was his turn to enter Kat’s darkened cabin.
“Yes?” she said warily.
“Cabin lights dimmed” Chase ordered quickly. He sat on the end of the bed as Kat rolled onto her back and came into a sitting position with her back against the wall. Chase went to hold her but she put out her hand. Chase dropped his hands to his side. “You’re right. I’ve been an idiot. I’m sorry.”
“What specifically are you sorry about Chase” she said. “About earning my ire? About me not staying with you? Or is there something else?” There was real annoyance in her tone.
“I’m sorry for being a dick, for not being mature and for disappointing you.”
Kat could see that he meant it. She nodded. Chase smiled. She smiled back. He leaned forward and they kissed gently. “Still tired?” she asked her eyes searching his.
“Not one bit.”
She pulled his head closer and kissed him strongly, penetrating his mouth with her tongue. Chase responded in kind and began pulling her tee shirt up. They parted lips. Her tee shirt went flying. “I can see that” she said.
His shirt went next. “Are you tired?” he asked.
She pushed him down onto the bed and began pulling off his shorts.
“I guess not” he said smiling.
A few cabins down the officers’ deck Jasmin rolled off of Ivan’s body and withdrew to the ensuite. Ivan’s eyelids gave up the fight and he succumbed to the little death. A few minutes later Jasmin returned and nudged him to roll over onto his side. The bed was not big enough for them both to lie side by side on their backs.
Ivan did so but closed his eyes straight after Jasmin’s arm wrapped over.
“So why did the boss call off the attack?” she asked. Sex always enlivened Jasmin and her words carried real enthusiasm. Ivan didn’t respond. So she hugged him tighter. “Come on honey, why?”
Ivan just wanted to go to sleep. He moved his upper hand under hers and patted her ample rump. “Sleep darling…sleep.”
She withdrew her upper hand and pinched Ivan’s bottom. He ignored it. She pinched again but a lot harder. “What is this?” asked Ivan “I’ll have you know interrogation by torture is an offence.” But by this time Ivan knew she would not rest and hence he would not be able to either. He grabbed her menacing hand and pulled it into his chest. He felt her breasts against the small of his back and a smile of contentment appeared on his face. While he looked into the wall and she looked at the back of his neck he told her his account of what happened.
“He’s a bit … umm…different. You know… not your usual sort of commander” she said in response.
Ivan smiled. “Yeah he’s a little unconventional. But he’s so called intuition has saved us more than once. So I’m prepared to cut him some slack.”
“I’m not complaining. I’m just trying to figure him out. He gave Chase an earful.”
“And he apologised to him after. Tell me how many commanders have you seen do that?”
“True. Chase deserved it though. Could have got us all killed.”
“Yeah he looked like he took it pretty hard” said Ivan. He paused for a moment and then added “at least he won’t be his insufferable self for a while.”
“Don’t count on it. I reckon he’ll be just as insufferable tomorrow.”
“Nah I reckon he’s had his wings clipped.”
“Want a bet?” said Jasmin with playfulness in her voice.
“What have you got to wager?”
“What would you like?”
“You know!” said Ivan grinning.
“Wipe that grin off your face. You’re not going to collect. It will be me extracting the reward and this is what I want.” She came up onto her elbow and bent over and whispered in his ear.
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“Really?”
“Mmm!”
“OK you win. Do you want your reward now.”
She smacked him on the bum. “You’re incorrigible.”
In the Captain’s cabin Dave finally retired for the evening. He turned out the lights. He was tired but his mind was still active. He began chanting his mantra to still his mind. The thoughts kept coming but the mantra helped. Thoughts related to the mission dropped away only to be substituted by thoughts of Rihan.
How he longed for her touch. This was the tenth night without her. He recalled their last night together. He could almost smell her. He recalled the sensation in his hands as he caressed her body. ‘Oh Rihan I want you’ he said to himself. He could feel himself being aroused. ‘This is pointless.’ He rolled over onto his side and closed his eyes.
Chapter 11. Slidwon, Istridium 2330, 13 August
Raitah Pratin was still at her desk in the Foreign Intelligence Agency HQ. Well technically it still belonged to Charak Tumbisit, but Raitah knew that he would never be back. She was weary and would have left for her home were it not for a scheduled call.
She supported her large head with her hand as she pondered how things could have unravelled so. Operation KASAM was turning into a fiasco. ‘Those dammed broadcasts’ she said to herself.
The green light flashed on her communicator. She picked it up in haste. “Pratin” she announced.
“It’s me” said Mida Konklas in his deep gravelly voice. He knew the acting Director would have no trouble recognizing him.
“Well?”
“It’s confirmed.”
“Fuck it Mida. You promised me this would not happen.”
Mida did not respond. It was pointless to argue. He could hear Raitah’s breathing. He knew all too well how she would breathe heavily when annoyed. He also knew that she would suck the anger in and somehow transform it into a plan of action. It was a formidable capability -one that he admired. But he also knew that if completely stymied she could lash out with real venom and he did not want to be the recipient of that. So he waited patiently.
“How long?” Raitah asked. She clipped her question as if her willpower was struggling to control her inner emotion.
“This time tomorrow” said Mida matter of factly. “It was across the full spectrum. Once Margvon has it, it will propagate everywhere.”
“I want Chamstel to shut it down.”
“That won’t be possible. The best we can expect is that it won’t be carried on the official media but that’s not going to impact much. No one listens to the official media anymore.”
“Yeah, yeah!” said a frustrated Raitah. “Is the spaceport secured yet?”
“Mostly.”
“Mostly is not good enough. Tell that commander to secure that spaceport of I’ll secure his family.”
“Of course.”
“Any more bad news?”
“No.”
“Good” and she hung up.
Chapter 12. Whiskey 7 to Lewista 0200, 14 August
Sgt Sarah Libisek kept staring at the passive radar screen. She looked up temporarily, ensured all was well visually and then refocussed on the screen. “Shit” she said out loud. “We’ve company” she hailed.
Felis Draag leaned forward from his seat behind the pilot. “Fighters?” he queried.
“I think so but I doubt if they have already detected us. Not at this range.”
Felis could see that the current range was 550kms and closing. It did look like they were heading straight for them.
“Changing route” announced Sarah. She set a waypoint 200kms eastward of their southerly direction and hit commit. The display redrew the new route and the craft’s AI made the necessary adjustments to follow it.
“Reducing Altitude” she then announced and the craft descended in a gradual dive. There would be no sudden moves.
Felis looked back towards Evie who had an enquiring expression but otherwise said nothing. “It’s probably just coincidence. We’ll know in a couple of minutes.
Sarah scanned the dark skies ahead. There were no lights other than heavenly bodies. She flicked back to the screen, noted the time ticking over. When it passed the two minute mark and the bogeys held their track she announced “We’re good. Revised ETA 0415.”
Chapter 13. Dyritka 0530, 14 August
The new Meeka Sallusam, Aras Leptude, woke to the alarm agitated. He turned off the infernal noise and by force of will rose to his feet. His dreams had not left him refreshed. Far from it. His shoulder shuddered as he recalled the last one. But years of discipline helped the former Imperial Admiral to suppress such mental gyrations.
He returned from his ablutions and shower with a fresh physical form if not a mental one. He dressed quickly. The pilot’s jacket covered the holster with the Mukton pulse pistol. ‘I shouldn’t need it’ he thought. He patted the holster and added ‘but it’s best to be prepared.’
Outside of his apartment complex it was still dark. The recessed strip lighting along the walkway came on as he approached the company car he had been provided with. It was a nice enough vehicle, appropriate for his rank.
Aras got in and ordered “Driver take me to the spaceport Bay 213”
“Of course Sir” said the synthetic response.
Aras was grateful he had already turned off the ‘chat’ option for the auto-pilot. ‘Why that has become a must have feature I’ll never know’ he thought to himself.
The autopilot delivered Aras to Bay 213 in less than 12 minutes. One of the ground crew met him and with a wave of his hand-held console transferred all the flight details he would need. Not that he would need any of it. ‘But it covers my tracks nicely’ thought Aras as he climbed aboard.
Twenty minutes later Aras stepped back down onto terra firma. He had already done a thorough reconnaissance of the area. On all spectrums the area was clean, save for the other small craft that had touched down opposite.
Aras was surprised to see two figures step out from the craft. The first was Barak Slaag, the lean intelligence controller but he wasn’t sure of the second much larger figure.
As he approached slowly, Aras struggled in the dawn haze to make him out. His hand rested on his pistol. Then as they got closer he recognised the other figure. It was his old room mate Julsian Dovorst. This was a surprise. It could only mean one thing.
While they had both graduated from the same institution they had since taken markedly different paths. Julsian had never reached the dizzying heights of Imperial Admiral, commanding hundreds of ships. No he had focussed on ground operations and was the current commander of the 11th Endosian Division. Now though he was the third member of a conspiracy.
As Julsian and Barak walked towards Aras, Julsian stopped and strained to identify the character approaching. His hand went to his sidearm.
“It’s all right Julsian. It really is me” said Aras.
Julsian nodded partly in disbelief. “Meeka?”
“It’s Aras now, my old friend. Call me Aras.” Aras opened out his arms and they hugged. “Just like old times.”
As they parted Julsian replied “Not really Meeka. Everything is going to shit. I have new orders to deploy to Fritwa mid October.”
“But…”
“Don’t believe those broadcasts. We will lose Fritwa. Just ask Barak here.” Barak nodded like he needed to apologise for confirming it. “I don’t want to die in that god forsaken sector” continued Julsian. “If you are still serious then we need to act now.”
“It’s too soon Julsian. I need time to make the arrangements. Can you delay your departure?”
Julsian shook his head. He reached out and took Aras’s hand. “We can make this work Meeka.”
Aras turned to Barak “And you?”
“Things are falling apart Meeka” said Barak. “No one has the balls anymore to do what is needed. You won’t hear of it in the media but every second system within the extended territories has some form of active Resistance. The edific
e is crumbling. I agree with Julsian.”
“All right. There’s no turning back from this?”
“I know” said Julsian.
“I’m in” said Barak.
Aras addressed Julsian “You will have to commandeer the transports at your location.” Julsian nodded. “I will handle the rest.”
“What about the ships?” asked Barak.
“Well now we will see if Letnus can be counted on. Don’t worry. I’m sure she will be. Give me two weeks.”
Julsian nodded. “Same arrangements?”
“Yes the same” responded Aras. “I must go. Be careful my friends.”
“And you” said Julsian. Barak nodded and they turned back to their craft.
Chapter 14. Lewista 0600, 14 August
Felis took his cue from the cresting light of the Sturum sun. It would be broad daylight in twenty minutes. They had made good time since disembarking from Whiskey 7. It and the marines should be well hidden by now in amongst the forests north east of Lewista.
The path they had been following through the crop fields looked like it still had plenty of distance to run. But there was a small knot of building set on the rise to their west.
Felis knew that odds on they would be occupied, which meant they would have to deal with the occupants. But he saw no other way. He pointed towards the buildings and changed direction to them.
Evie turned her head to ensure that Judy Fisher was following. Judy nodded. This was the first extended period she had worn the full disguise and she was finding it a little uncomfortable. They hadn’t been pushing the pace that much but she was sweating profusely and she had this annoying itch on her left cheek.
Madge brought up the rear of their little group. Like Judy she too was only now discovering that the worst aspect of the disguise was the sweating it caused. But otherwise Madge felt good. Now that dawn was upon them she was fascinated by her surroundings.
The crop field on their left was a good two metres tall. It looked like a series of densely packed poles…’like sugar cane’ she said to herself. She peered at the large yellow balls hanging down and around each pole. ‘They must be the fruit.’
Audacity (Warner's World Book 5) Page 12